My blk/blk 66 coupe has original paint that is too far gone to resurrect. I can see spots of the red primer underneath in several places. I have a friend who suggested sanding it down to the primer and painting over it with lacquer. Does that sound like a good idea to everyone, or is there a better alternative? I'm just wanting to paint it black again, and make a hotrod out of it, not a NCRS or show car. Already has a 502 in it, although I have the matching #'s small block if I ever want to go back to stock. Looking for your opinions.

 

There are certainly better alternatives as lacquer is a completely outdated paint technology.
Before I go any further with my opinion on what you should do, I would like to know if you plan to do all the work yourself or are you going to have a professional do the work?

 

It would be a local professional doing the painting and probably the prep work.

 

Here is my opinion:

First, I would make sure your local guy has experience with Corvettes and all products used be 2K ie 2 part systems.

The best thing to do would be to strip the car down to the glass. (It is important the the car be stripped properly. Chemical stripping is a no-no. If it is done with sanding, it is important that it be done as to not damage any of the fiberglass by sanding to harshly. Plastic media blasting is another option that is excellent if it is done properly. I would absolutely not let anyone soda blast it.)

The priming process should be started with 2 coats of epoxy primer.
Then he can use a good urethane primer to use as a primer/filler so the car can be blocked flat. Usually to get a corvette nice and flat it takes at least 3 coats with blocking in between. This is the most important part of the job. A final coat of epoxy as a sealer is an option that is good thing to do.
Since the car is black, a single-stage urethane paint would be a good choice if the painter can lay that down with minimum orange peel. Single stage can be sanded and buffed to eliminate the orange peel but it can be labor intensive.
Base coat / clear coat in urethane is also an excellent choice and may be the way your local guy would rather do it. Most pros should be able to lay down clear coat without orange peel thus eliminating the need to color sand and buff.

A paint job like this would look beautiful, be super durable and last a very, very long time.

 

Thanks Roger! I guess the bottom line is you get back whatever effort you put in it. I was kind of hoping I could skate through it (down to the factory primer). I'll talk to my painter and pass along your advice.
Looking at the album on the 69 vert, I can tell you've been through it with great results!

 

Roger, Thanks for the above info. Please answer my questions if you can.

 

an old painter once smacked me in the back of my hard head and said " son, whatever is there when you start is gonna be there when your done " learned that old paint is not your friend. roger is right on the money on what to do. me i'm an epoxy guy. i use nothing else. bullit proof when your done.

 

FD-So the best way to strip it is with sanding - but make sure they do it without damage?
Hand sanding is the absolute safest way to go. However, I have used a D/A with 220 grit wet on flat areas and had no problem not doing any damage. Some will disagree with me on this and tell you only to do it by hand. I have also used a chemical stripper called Captain Lee's Auto Spray strip that is designed for fiberglass with success. When I used it, it removed the paint but not the primer. So, I then removed the primer by hand. Again, some will disagree and tell you to stay away from any chemical remover with a Corvette. I would definitely not use even the Captain Lee's on a newer SMC Corvette. I have heard stories about the 84 and newer SMC panels never being able to except paint again after being contaminated with stripper and the cars left in a totaled state.

FD-So its 6 coats primer total - 2 epoxy - 3 urethane - 1 epoxy?
Yes, that is what I would estimate. It might take more or less urethane coats. It depends how much flattening (blocking) is required on any particular car. A polyester primer goes on thicker and can be used when a lot of flattening is required. Sometime, I might try dog's all epoxy method.

FD- What about white car?
FD- What does the orange peel do - provide richness to the color
I would make the same recommendation for white. I would not recommend single-stage urethane for a metallic color (bc/cc only).
Orange peel is a texture that looks like an orange. Some find this very objectionable and some don't mind that much. It is common to see new cars from the factory with an orange peel finish. To me, if it is mild, it's not that big of a deal. I don't like to see any on a show car though. Heavy orange peel can look terrible. Orange peel can be sanded out then buffed for a perfect finish but it is a lot of work. And in IMO, it is easier to spray clear with less orange peel than it is with a single stage. A really good painter should be able to do any paint with little or no orange peel. I can't do it. So I sand and buff my paint jobs.

FD-This is a 2nd option if one doesn't do the orange peel?
I think I covered that above.

 

Mike,
You have to remember one thing.
Prep is everything. Your finished product depends on how well you prepped and primed your Vette.
Give me a call, I believe you still have my #.
Rick

 

Thanks Rick!
I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. Looks like Talladega might get rained out.